QUETTA: Coordinator of the Emergency Operation Centre, Balochistan, Hameedullah Nasar has said that a five-day anti-polio campaign will start on Monday in all the 34 districts of Balochistan for which preparations have been completed.

During this campaign, more than 2.5 million children of up to five years would be administered polio drops by 10,832 teams.

He said 8,788 mobile teams, 942 fixed and 594 transit teams had been deployed across the province to ensure that all children received polio drops.

“We have adopted strict security measures to prevent any unforeseen situation. Personnel from Balochistan Levies Force, police and Frontier Corps would be deployed to protect the polio workers,” Mr Nasar said, adding that religious scholars were also taking part in the campaign to persuade the parents who normally refuse to administer polio drops.

“As the routine immunisation (RI) is an important pillar of polio eradication initiative, we are trying to provide adequate resources not only for vaccination against childhood vaccine preventable diseases but also working for the expansion of RI service delivery in remote areas to boost coverages,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2022